S3 • E4 Jun 8, 1997
Varian Fry was an American journalist who became the Schindler of the art world. He arrived in Marseille in the summer of 1940 with $3,000 hidden under his clothes and helped to rescue 2,000 people from Nazi persecution in Vichy France, including some of the greatest writers, artists and intellectuals of the times.
Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and Heinrich Mann were among the many people who owed their liberty to this unlikely hero. Varian Fry died in 1967 with his achievements virtually unrecognised. The Works tells the story of his secret rescue mission and reveals how the dramatic escapes that he engineered came to have a profound impact on the culture of the century.
Max Ernst, Marc Chagall and Heinrich Mann were among the many people who owed their liberty to this unlikely hero. Varian Fry died in 1967 with his achievements virtually unrecognised. The Works tells the story of his secret rescue mission and reveals how the dramatic escapes that he engineered came to have a profound impact on the culture of the century.
